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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22977229">Always, my king</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mathilda_Selem/pseuds/Mathilda_Selem'>Mathilda_Selem</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Childhood Friends, Devotion, Fantasy, Historically Inaccurate, KIng/his right hand, M/M, Medieval Fantasy, Tamme is too gay to produce an heir, Teenager, but it's not from a historical point of view, it's an issue, kinda underage sex, non-romatic sex scene, not very explicite sex, sex with the sole goal of procreation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:47:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,863</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22977229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mathilda_Selem/pseuds/Mathilda_Selem</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Husmeier Abbe and King Tamme of Danrop grew up together and he'd loved him longer than he can remember. Due to their positions and the time they live in he's not allowed to act on those feelings though.<br/>On the day after the king's wedding, his king gives him a task that is a great test to his devotion.<br/>Abbe has to make sure his kingdom will have a future king...because his king can't.<br/>Everything hurts but they kinda make it work. </p><p>just a little story sketch for now. might explore this universe and characters more though.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character, adult/teenager</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Always, my king</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Abbe’s family has served the kingdom for generations as the castle's husmeier. They lead the palace household, organised, rationed and with all of that had the best of the royal family in mind.<br/>
There was probably no one more royalist – except the royals themselves perhaps, than Abbe’s family.  They lived good with that too.<br/>
Even if in political conflicts one king’s reign ended prematurely, the next in line still trusted the husmeier’s expertise and judgement like their fathers and grandfathers and entrusted their livelihood to the husmeiers of their time.<br/>
When King Tamme’s father died, he’d been too young to do much of the reigning so Abbe’s grandfather took it upon him to not only keep the kingdom of Danrop safe and economically healthy with the help of the council, he also taught Abbe and King Tamme all he knew about leadership, kindness and the right argument at the right time.<br/>
The old man bought both boys important time to grow a strong backbone and a good conscious to stand against the force inside and outside the kingdom and of course Abbe was grateful for this opportunity to grow up unbothered by the never-stopping intrigues among the nobles of Danrop.<br/>
He really was thankful and he wouldn’t betray the memory of his father, his grandfather and all the father and grandfather that came before him.<br/>
He would keep the best interest of royal family and with that the future of his own family and he wouldn’t pay attention to the way the court dames rumoured behind their lace-covered hands.<br/>
Since...they would never understand how much he could never betray the king.</p><p>So he enters the room and he already knows what’s coming next because the Tamme had arrived at his front door way too early in the early morning hours, frantically knocking against the wood until someone opened. his soft face had bee full of sorrow for he couldn’t stomach to do what he was supposed to.<br/>
The young queen is sixteen, they had specifically waited for her to be older after Tamme’s cousin had died in childbed at only twelve years. Queen Ava is a young dame of the most distinguished upbringing. Smart, well-educated on the diplomatic matter and all things beautiful, she would be a good queen of Danrop and that’s why Abbe and the council had found her the best candidate.<br/>
It had hurt to offer up his king to a woman, especially since it fell upon him as his most intimate advisor to finally persuade Tamme that he could wait another and yet another year to marry since he needed a queen to play all instruments of the diplomatic court orchestra and he most definitively must think about producing an heir.  Better even several sons to make sure at least one made it to adulthood.<br/>
Tamme knew that of course but still for some inexplicable reason he tried to evade a marriage time and time again until council was fed up with his excuses and reasoned something needed to be done.<br/>
More specifically done by Abbe.</p><p>To have a son he needed to first bed the queen though.<br/>
The wedding night however had failed pathetically and Abbe really, really wishes someone else had to take care of the mess and not him.<br/>
Of course Abbe’s son is at home trying is help the sad king by distracting him with the new song he learned on the lute. Jonne is a good boy and he’s got such a sunny temperament that even the chronically sullen Tamme started to smile a little when Abbe left the husmeier’s home to talk with the young queen. </p><p>When Abbe enters the room, the queen is crying. The first rays of the morning sun glitter on the gentle waves of the rive of dark brown hair spilling over her nightgown and she looks so young and he feels so old.<br/>
“My queen...” he says quietly, bowing and keeping his distance and he can’t ban the sympathy from his face, because right now she doesn’t look like a queen. She looks like a young girl, almost a child, but she has the resolve in her features that the task put upon her shoulder is way to hard to carry and she still tried and failed.<br/>
“He couldn’t...”, she cries and hides her face in her hands and Abbe’s grabs a blanket to pull it around her shoulders before e indicates to sit down. “May I, my dear child?”, he says and his voice is gentle and soft like he had talked to his own sisters when they were still small.<br/>
She nods and he gingerly sits down on the edge of the bed that his dear king, perfect in almost every other way, had failed to consummate his marriage in. He waits and mumbles soft words and almost feels like crying himself, because things are hard if you’d rather bed the king yourself than marry him of to a queen.<br/>
“It’s my fault.”, Ava concludes and her whole chubby face is puffy and nervously red and makes Abbe want to cuddle her up and many blanket and read her stories by the fireplace.  Angrily she claws her arms and digs her fingers in the soft, tissue of her chest. “I’m not beautiful enough...he must think I’m an ugly hag!” she whimpered and Abbe doesn’t even think before prying her hands away from er body so she can’t hurt herself anymore.<br/>
“No, my Queen. No, No, No.”  he hushes gently holding her tiny, elegant hands in his own clumsy paws. He only flinches a little when her head falls heavy against his shoulder as she continued sobbing. “You’ll be an excellent queen, Ava. Your king and your folk can be very lucky to have you and we’ll find a solution, don’t worry, my queen. Sweet little girl, don’t lose your hope.”<br/>
it takes a good time until he has her calmed enough to ask her if she wants to break her fast or if he should send on the maids to help her get dressed, but she quickly dismissed that thought sending him out instead to fetch her husband, since she wished to start her morning together.<br/>
“Please stay nearby, my dear husmeier! It gives me so much peace to see your friendly face.”, she ordered and the gently authority that made Abbe suggest her to the king is back in her posture as she  walks towards the oriel to overlook the awakening castle yard. The brocade blanket is framing her slim shoulders like a coronation robe and there’s purpose in the way she holds her head.<br/>
She made a decision and Abbe is not sure if he likes it.<br/>
“Thank you, Abbe.” he hears her say before he closes the door.</p><p>When Abbe enters the main hall of his own home his older children are playing on the woollen carpet at the king’s feet. Four small blond heads gather together as they build a little farm with wooden animals and Abbe grins broadly as he steps closer. It is rare to see all four of the kids are playing in harmony. Since his second wife died, the three boys fight quite often and his daughter is already almost twelve summers old and does have other interests than playing peacemaker between her little brothers. She’s good at it though.<br/>
If she was a boy, she’d be his choice for his succession. she’s got a good head on her shoulders, like her late mother. She’s not a boy though, so he does his best to give her the needed skills to find a good husband and he, after his first wife had died shortly after her birth, had to take a second wife to save the future of the family. Four kids Gerda had given him before the last birth had taken her from his side.<br/>
He cried for her. Even if his heart will always belong to someone else they still had a good marriage. He had respected her dearly and she had bloomed in his house to an impressive woman, praised by everyone who’d known her. </p><p>When he comes closer Tamme lifts the head and as he becomes aware of Abbe’s expression he's visibly relaxing. Abbe sees the sun ghost of his kings freckled face and the how desperatingly sharp his jaw and cheekbones form his features. And he wants nothing more than go down to his knees and proclaim his undying loyalty like they did back in the ancient times. He aches for his hands but they protocol prohibits touching ever since Tamme became a king in more than just his title.<br/>
“My dear Abbe.”, exclaimed said king and he opens his arms in a gesture that’s the closest to a hug that Abbe will ever come. “it’s good to see you back and in a good mood.”<br/>
Talking in front of the children no matter how well-behaved is not ideally, if you want to keep the matter private, so Abbe just shrugs and informs Tamme that the Queen is asking for his presence.<br/>
Immediately dark shadows cloud Tamme’s light features and Abbe wants nothing more but to kiss his the sorrows from his forehead. As he watches the man close his eyes and tuck away his sadness and a moment later Tamme is gone and there's just Danrop’s king.<br/>
Abbe sighs and steps back to give him space to stand up.<br/>
“Well...what kind of man would I be to deny my lady such a wish.”, he says as he straightened his coat and smiled at him stiffly. </p><p>It takes about an hour until they call for him again.<br/>
On his way through the queen’s chambers he orders the maids to stay away for a while, since things are still delicate between the new couple.<br/>
To be sure he ushers every one out himself and closes the door to this part of the castle with one of the big keys that dangle from his waist. Only after that he slowly makes his way to the queens bedroom, assuming the queen will probably reside there for a while until she had acclimated with her new position a little more.<br/>
He’s correct.<br/>
Tamme’s face is uncharacteristically conflicted and there’s muted anger simmering in his pale grey eyes. Queen Ava on the other hand looks like a war leader. Deadly determined she stares out of the window and her whole body is tense like she prepares for battle.<br/>
“My dear Abbe...” the king says gently and Tamme feels his heart sink upon hearing his voice.<br/>
“Yes, my king.” he answers and lowered his head in a gesture of humility.<br/>
“How long have we known each other, Abbe?”<br/>
“thirty-six summers, my lord. Since you were born I know your face and follow your path.” and he can’t hide it. The way his heart aches. That it’s so unfair that he can’t have him and still will have him all the time from the time the blond had opened his eyes to watch the sky for the first time.<br/>
Abbe’s dirty blond locks fall over his eyes and he is thankful for that little privacy to hide his expression because he knows at least the Queen Ava is smart enough to see right through.<br/>
“Can I trust you, my husmeier?” It’s not question it’s a demonstration. He showing off Abbe’s loyalty to his new queen. Abbe’s cheeks burn in humiliation, but he knows his place. He knows what his loyalty means to his children’s future.<br/>
“Always, my king.” He bows his head even more and his hand claws in his chest. “You <i>know</i> that.”, he can’t stop himself from adding and then, suddenly, perfectly, there is a hand on the crown of his head and it’s heartbreakingly how delicate Tamme cards through his hair.</p><p>“Of course, I know that, Abbe my old friend.” The king looks sad, resigned.<br/>
“Abbe, what would you do for the kingdom.” His voice grows thin at the end and Abbe looks from him to the Queen and he starts to understand.<br/>
“I’d do anything for you.” He means it. The one he’s following is not the Kingdom. He’s loyal to Tamme, the boy, the man he grew up with. His Tamme that played with him hide-and-seek and who he’d taught how ride a horse and swim and use knife and fork.<br/>
And the other man stares at him sadly and warmly at the same time and Abbe is sure they just remember the same childhood and the same youth, so he tries to smile even though it’s hard. He waits until a jolt goes through Tamme’s body and the king makes his way to the door.<br/>
“I’ll got retire in the library for a bit. Please, my friend, if the Queen needs help with anything do your best to accommodate to her wishes.” he mutters so fast that Abbe almost doesn’t catch what he’s saying and it takes him at least minute alone with the queen to understand what kind of task he was just laid on his shoulders.<br/>
“Yes, m’lord.”, he mumbles dumbly to the closed door.</p><p>“You’ve got children, Abbe?”, Queen Ava asked and Abbe is reminded again how terribly young she is even if she’s pretty old to be a bride. She turns around gesturing him to help her with her veil and dress and he does his best to loosen the dress pull it over her head until she stands in just her underdress. He feels positively ill.<br/>
“Yes, my queen. Five children. Three sons and two girls. Ilsa, my oldest is just a few years younger than you.” he answers and loosens his hoses and braies so he can, as Tamme has so poignantly uttered, accommodate to his queen’s wishes.<br/>
This feels so wrong, wrong wrong, but he still sits down on the edge of the bed and it doesn’t take long for his body react to the youthful woman above him and he has enough experience from two marriages to make it feel good for her. He’s gentle and she’s sweet and devastatingly strong in her will to be a good queen and she will be he’s sure.<br/>
She writhes in his lap and he kisses her chest and neck and he thinks of his king and he comes.</p><p>Ava cries again afterwards. His penis still in her and her face childlike and soft.<br/>
Abbe feels the tears burn behind his eyes too, but he doesn’t. Instead he strokes her back. He tells her how brave she is and how proud everyone is to have her as a queen and when she calms down enough he gently lifts her off his lap, helps her lay down and tugs her in. he wants to say sorry to her, because this is so wrong. She should need to do this.<br/>
It's not just bit angry as he straightens out his clothes and wipes his hands on his tunic before he leaves the room. He wants to be angry at the king too to bring him in this situation but he can’t. </p><p>It takes two further circles and nine months until the princess is born.<br/>
Tamme holds the baby in his arms as Abbe enters the room. The midwives still fuss about the young mother, Abbe is relived to see her alive.<br/>
the king waves him to follow and they sit in the oriel so they hear if they’re needed but they’re away from prying eyes.<br/>
The other man looks down on the child in his arms like she is the one that will make everything better. Abbe can’t help but smile as he touches the little nose that looks a lot like his own.<br/>
“Say hello to Abbe, my first man.”, the king says. They sit so close that they’re pressed together from shoulder to leg.<br/>
“Hello, your Highness...” mumbles Abbe and grins dumbly down on the little girl that tries to curl the hand around his finger and at first he doesn’t notice how Tamme stares at him, but when he does he can’t look away and his head goes empty. He’s happy and sad at the same time. He’s disappointed that they’ll have to try again for a son, because girls can’t lead  kingdoms.  Still...he also feels so lucky because this little human is so terrifyingly perfect and might be his princess but in his heart she’s still his daughter and having daughters is the best thing a man could wish for (sons are also quite nice though).<br/>
Then Tamme leans even impossibly closer and he’s kissing Abbe and it's as earth-shattering as he'd always imagined while the midwives talk gently to the young mother in the background.<br/>
He knows he’ll deal with the court dames rumouring that the princess looks like him and the counsellors whispering about his supposed betrayal, because Tamme knows it’s not true. Tamme trusts him and he’ll do anything he can to deserve that trust.<br/>
“Thank you, Abbe. I couldn’t live without you.” mutters the king and leans against him under the pretence to watch out of the window as the child in his arms falls into a light slumber.</p>
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